The Reverse-Midas Effect

The Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009, recently signed into law by President Barack Obama, which triples U.S. aid to that beleaguered country, was passed specifically, in the words of its sponsors, to demonstrate “the tangible manifestation of broad support for Pakistan in the U.S., as evidenced by its bipartisan, bicameral, unanimous passage in Congress.”

To begin with, the administration’s idea of unanimity is an odd one: there was at least one vote against the bill from Ron Paul, the solidly anti-interventionist Republican from Texas – but in the world of the Obama-ites, people like Ron Paul don’t even deserve to be acknowledged, let alone listened to. If you’re a Serious Person, you accept all the assumptions and conceits of the interventionist consensus without question. Given this, it’s easy enough for them to dismiss Rep. Paul by simply disappearing him – but one wonders how they intend to similarly brush aside the outraged cries coming from Pakistan, where the media and government leaders are in an uproar over what they contend is a massive violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

The Pakistani media is alight with reports of hi-tech U.S. arms being shipped to Pakistan and handed over to some highly dubious recipients, including tribal chieftains and quite possibly terrorist groups currently hitting targets in the country. The suspicion is that the huge influx of U.S. aid is designed to create a parallel internal security infrastructure, one controlled from Washington rather than Islamabad – and it will be hard to disabuse the Pakistanis of this notion, because that is precisely what is happening.

DynCorp, the U.S. mercenary organization, is allied with a local partner, Inter-Risk, run by a former Pakistani military officer, and they have been given the lucrative U.S. government contract to provide security services to the U.S. embassy there. A recent raid by the Pakistani police on Inter-Risk facilities turned up what the Washington Timesreports as “sophisticated weaponry that appears more suited to Special Forces commandos, raising questions about its real role in a country facing a serious terrorist threat.”

The context it which the raid occurred provides plenty of grist for the anti-American rumor mill. The physical expansion of the U.S. embassy brings it nearly on a par with our giant Vatican-sized diplomatic compound in Iraq. One Pakistani news outlet reports that the U.S. is in the process of spending about $1 billion for the upgrading of their Islamabad presence, including an expenditure of $405 million for the reconstruction and refurbishment of the main embassy building; $111 million for a new complex for accommodating 330 personnel; and $197 million for constructing about 250 housing units on 18 acres of newly-acquired land.

Add to this greatly-expanded visible footprint a less visible one: the infiltration of special forces commando units in the guise of “protecting” the embassy and other U.S. interests in the country. Until now the U.S. has been walking a very fine line with the Pakistani government, launching unmanned drone attacks on alleged terrorist targets, taking out a very large chunk of “collateral damage” in the process. Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan, never that good to begin with, have recently been marked by escalating mutual suspicion, and the raid on DynCorp/Inter-Risk raises these tensions to a new level. Precluded from openly invading Pakistani territory, the U.S. is using every excuse to quietly arm a “private” army of security contractors, flooding the country with weapons and cash.

We are in effect invading Pakistan under the guise of “aiding” the government: all that “economic development aid” (including kickbacks to local warlords and government officials) comes with a whole lot of strings. The “enhanced partnership” with Pakistan means that the local governments and security forces are being subverted, shoved aside, and replaced by a new structure set up and commanded by the Americans – as a prelude to a more open military occupation, if it should ever come to that.

The U.S. occupation of Afghanistan has succeeded merely in pushing the Taliban and its sympathizers into neighboring Pakistan, and in order to clean up this mess, we’re moving in on Islamabad even as the elected government begins to lose credibility and authority in the eyes of its own people. In this way, tensions created by the crudeness and weight of our footprint are further exacerbated by subsequent attempts to “fix” the problem – and the self-perpetuating process rolls on indefinitely, until the government collapses due to lack of popular support and the insurgents gain the sympathy of the people – thus laying the groundwork for an outright U.S. invasion and occupation of the country.

U.S. actions in the region could be fairly evaluated as exhibiting a reverse-Midas touch: everything we get involved in generates a backlash – “blowback” – in direct proportion to its visibility. Thus we are presently on a course that will eventually end in bringing about the very scenario we fear: a full-scale Islamist insurgency in Pakistan that threatens to topple the government and possibly come into possession of the country’s nuclear arsenal.

The idea that we can intervene covertly, with sufficient subtlety to avoid a confrontation with the government – and nationalist elements in the military and the general population – is a foolish dream that ought to be summarily abandoned. How much money have we poured into the Pakistani rat hole – and to what effect? Our every effort boomerangs in our faces, mocking our purportedly noble intentions and underscoring our essential powerlessness in that wild region at the top of the world.

The way to fight al-Qaeda and its allies is by mounting a real national defense. Instead of going after these alleged “safe havens” – which, contra President Obama and his advisors, are not essential for our enemies to conduct terrorist operations against the U.S. mainland – we need to police our own territory as seriously and comprehensively as we are presently trying to police Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Stopping a suicide bomber in Islamabad does nothing to stop a suicide bomber at Kennedy airport from trying to board a plane. We are trying to protect Pakistan’s nukes – while the nuclear facilities of the West are far from secure, at least according to recent reports. Our own ports are essentially undefended, with millions of tons of cargo coming in every day – most of it not inspected. We’re spending billions trying to seal off Pakistan’s borders to prevent an influx of Taliban fighters – and yet our own borders are notoriously porous, a standing invitation for al-Qaeda to infiltrate and carry out its program of mass death. Our actions on the “Af-Pak” front are merely providing al-Qaeda with fresh recruits, some of whom may make their way to the U.S. and other Western countries, where they will be in a good position to plan and carry out terrorist attacks.

Pakistan’s political leaders will make a great show of caviling over the tripled aid package, grandstanding for their domestic audience – and then they’ll accept it, because the opportunities for corruption are too rich to be wasted. In the meantime, this cornucopia of aid will achieve the exact opposite of its ostensible purpose, bringing us closer to the day when Pakistan’s alleged “crisis” – a crisis largely of our own making – will culminate in catastrophe.

And that’s the story of U.S. foreign policy in the post-9/11 era – a veritable perpetual motion machine of mishaps and mistaken assumptions, fueled by corruption and super-charged with a peculiarly American brand of hubris.

Author: Justin Raimondo

Justin Raimondo is the editorial director of Antiwar.com, and a senior fellow at the Randolph Bourne Institute. He is a contributing editor at The American Conservative, and writes a monthly column for Chronicles. He is the author of Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement [Center for Libertarian Studies, 1993; Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2000], and An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard [Prometheus Books, 2000].
View all posts by Justin Raimondo

Pure Reverse Nonsense Justin: "a standing invitation for al-Qaeda to infiltrate and carry out its program of mass death".
FYI: al-Qaeda –there is no such fairy tale group and they had nothing to do with 911 attacks.

RedswissKnife–you silly little boy.You been watching too much FOX News.
Time to hit grade school physics grade 5 ,start with gravity (apple falling)and end up with smelting steel temperatures. While your at it,ask your daddy,if he recalls who bombed USS LIBERTYand killed 32 navy men and what President covered up the whole affair. Instead of stewing over facts–get eduacated and get off the pot
Go play with your knife–little silly boy.USA is tanking and your too stupid to know -WHY and by Whom. Big Hint–Your Government and stupid cluts like you:^/

Why mention the old, discredited "smelting steel temperatures" part of the 9/11 "conspiracy"? Come on chump you can do better than that.
Even this guy (who is no fan of George W Bush or FOX news) knows it's total bullsh*t.http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=9…
And what does the U.S.S. Liberty incident have to do with 9/11? Nothing. But that's ok man tell me how you really feel about the Jews.
And some people here claim that you guys really aren't anti-Semites. Yeah right.

Finally, try to answer these question:

If there was really a 9/11 conspiracy why then 8 years later no foreign intelligency agency (i.e. Russia's KGB), no other country (i.e. China, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran) have uncovered the conspiracy by now?
What would they have to lose by embarassing the U.S. and discrediting all post-9/11 U.S. foreign policy?
Ooops. I just poked a giant hole in your "logic". Have a nice day.

I think one important reason that the USraeli Empire did not attack Iran yet is because they're worried that the next phase of the bloody Zionist crusade will result in the complete collapse of the Pakistani government, with Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of people who may be willing to use it against the Zionist crusaders.

Thus the purpose of attacking Afghanistan in the first place likely was to get at Pakistan; and then, once they gather the "intelligence" they feel they need, bribe anyone who's "bribeable", pre-position the necessary operatives, special forces, etc., hardware, etc., they'll finally attack Iran, and be ready to deal with the subsequent consequences in Pakistan.

I too find the "a standing invitation for al-Qaeda to infiltrate and carry out its program of mass death." LINE troubling… It seems to me that we are getting in the business of blaming the foot soldiers for the
policy of the executive…

I do not understand how the dubious nature of the 911 strike can be ignored when formulating views
about the actors the official story posits as principles, especially in Pakistan which sent the final $1OO,OOO.OO payment to Atta & crew.. and the man who originated that payment now has a plum job.. Wilfull blindness to such duplicity is a treasonous reflex in our politicians… Nelson_2008 may not be totally correct, but I think his view is FAR closer to the actual flow of events than our wilfully blind in the political process and the media chose to see…………

I too find the "a standing invitation for al-Qaeda to infiltrate and carry out its program of mass death." LINE troubling… It seems to me that we are getting in the business of blaming the foot soldiers for the
policy of the executive…

I do not understand how the dubious nature of the 911 strike can be ignored when formulating views
about the actors the official story posits as principles, especially in Pakistan which sent the final $1OO,OOO.OO payment to Atta & crew..["Moreover, according to intelligence sources, including the FBI, Pakistan's ISI played a role in financing the 9/11 terrorist attacks"] [http://youthfulindiscretions.com/Goss_9-11.htm ].. and the man [General Mahmoud Ahmad] who originated that payment now has a plum job.. Willful blindness to such duplicity is a treasonous reflex in our politicians… Nelson_2008 may not be totally correct, but I think his view is FAR closer to the actual flow of events than our willfully blind in the political process and the media chose to see…………

I too find the "a standing invitation for al-Qaeda to infiltrate and carry out its program of mass death." LINE troubling… It seems to me that we are getting in the business of blaming the foot soldiers for the
policy of the executive…

I do not understand how the dubious nature of the 911 strike can be ignored when formulating views
about the actors the official story posits as the principles, especially in Pakistan which sent the final $1OO,OOO.OO payment to Atta & crew..["Moreover, according to intelligence sources, including the FBI, Pakistan's ISI played a role in financing the 9/11 terrorist attacks"] [http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/mahmoud_ahmed.htm

The case against intervention in the internal affairs of foreign countries is identical to the case against intervention in the workings of the market economy. Ludwig Von Mises loved to write that intervention in the market process is futile because it creates a situation which from the point of view of those doing the intervention is worse than the situation that existed prior to the intervention. Thus, a price floor on wages, a policy designed to help the least skilled workers earn a higher wage than would be dictated by the market, instead creates mass unemployment among unskilled workers preventing them from earning any wages at all. In a similar manner, it is the interventions of the US government in the internal affairs of Pakistan that is creating the conditions for a successful Islamic insurgency in Pakistan, the very thing those interventions are designed to prevent (the reverse midas touch).

It is also interesting to note that the interventionist in foreign affairs are filled with the same type of hubris that fills the interventionist in economic affairs. The foreign interventionist are convinced that they have the knowledge and ability to dictate outcomes in foriegn countries in which they do not understand the language, hold in contempt the beliefs the local population holds most sacred, and have no understanding of the local customs or what daily life is like in the country in which they are proposing to intervene. The economic interventionist are convinced they are so smart and enlightened that they can overrule the free decisions of millions and millions of people which is the final result of the market process. Interventions of the foriegn and economic type are doomed to failure and will only make what some people from their subjective point of view consider a bad situation worse.

I too find the "a standing invitation for al-Qaeda to infiltrate and carry out its program of mass death." LINE troubling… It seems to me that we are getting in the business of blaming the foot soldiers for the
policy of the executive…

I do not understand how the dubious nature of the 911 strike can be ignored when formulating views
about the actors the official story posits as the principles, especially in Pakistan which sent the final $1OO,OOO.OO payment to Atta & crew..["Moreover, according to intelligence sources, including the FBI, Pakistan's ISI played a role in financing the 9/11 terrorist attacks"] [<a href="http://youthfulindiscretions.com/Goss_9-11.htm” target=”_blank”>http://youthfulindiscretions.com/Goss_9-11.htm ].. and the man [General Mahmoud Ahmad] who originated that payment has been kept silent, with no news of his arrest in Pakistan ..and no visible efforts of the U.S. to bring him to court or justice…. Willful blindness to such duplicity is a treasonous reflex in our politicians… Nelson_2008 may not be totally correct, but I think his view is FAR closer to the actual flow of events than our willfully blind in the political process and the media chose to see………… <a href="http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/mahmoud_ahmed.htm” target=”_blank”>http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/mahmoud_ahmed.htm

Here is what I *KNOW* about 9/11: (1) I KNOW that Silverstein's buildings were rigged for demolition beforehand; (2) I KNOW that the U.S. government (or elements thereof) are knowingly and willfully covering up the fact that the buildings were rigged; (3) I KNOW that Zionists/Israeli agents were involved in the act itself, and in the subsequent cover-up.

Here is what I *BELIEVE* about 9/11: (1) I believe Atta was murdered before 9/11 and his identity stolen; (2) If there were any Arabs involved, I believe they were patsies, recruited and manipulated by Israeli/Zionist agents provocateurs; (3) I believe the planes were not piloted by Arabs (or any person), but directed to their targets by remote control, e.g., GPS guided.

You are an idiot. I'd love to see you spew your drivel in front of NYC cops or firefighters. BTW "knowing" facts that aren't real is usually a sign of serious mental illness. Seek professional help and get a life.

Yaa Nelson you are right yet again…. I do NOT understand how 911 was pulled off….whether there were doubles, patsies, or just true believers ready to step up to their convictions… What I do believe is that these actors [whoever they were] were either ignored [improbable] or facilitated by the U.S. gov. at the very highest levels… & there is the" The plane is 30 miles out sir… The plane is 20 miles out sir….. The plane is 10 miles our sir….does the order still stand? " <a href="http://hidhist.wordpress.com/terror/911/the-penta…” target=”_blank”>http://hidhist.wordpress.com/terror/911/the-penta… I think that 911 was absolutely an made in America operation..

Obviously, you are clueless and have made no attempt whatsoever to investigate this by looking at any relevant (i.e. non MSM) information and evidence.

The bottom line is that NO ONE knows what really happened that day because there has been NO real investigation of any kind. The only official investigation took place long after most of the evidence had been destroyed and the crime scene wiped of all possible usefulness.

all we gots to do now is start a war with iran, and that war will deprive china and india of tanker access to persian gulf oil and gas… which kinda completes the snookering of china and india, doesnt it?

i mean, we cant come right out and ban china and india from the persian gulf, can we? …not without biting off more than we can chew… so we can do it on the sly, by attacking iran and, one way or another, making sure hormuz stays closed until those pipelines are built to israel.

and maybe we can even arrange some catastophe on a par with 9/11 to motivate patriotic israeli americans to hold still for the gas shortages… not to mention the pool of recruits that will become accessible because they have no other way of making a living, after the crash, than getting their asses shot off.

if you're gonna achieve benevolent global hegemony, you've got to cripple your rivals… and as peak oil becomes more obvious, more people will start to understand afpak's function in restricting asian access to energy.

first, we restrict chinese, pakistan and indian access, especially chinese… but we cant be obvious about it.

if we can slow china down with war in iran —assuming the iran war and the closure of hormuz doesnt start wwIII— then we can achieve an interval of stability… oil going to europe and the east coast USA via israel… then we can start working seriously towards installing a PNAC puppet govt in russia.

there's a large faction of shakers and movers, though, that's given up… they've written off western what-passes-for-civilization because of peak oil, and all they really care about now is stacking up enough loot to hide out when the shit hits the fan.

it's the cold civil war in america, between the zionists who sincerely want to secure israel before america goes under, versus the pretend zionists who are using israel and the holocaust for protective coloration as they loot, versus the old line americans who are still hoping against hope that america can somehow be rescued from the zionists and looters and heal itself.

there's probably a large percentage of "old line americans" who are corporate fascists, and will be content with a military government so long as the profits continue to roll in… assuming the govt can hold together well enough to protect them.

in other words, it will be american business as usual, except that we wont be able to afford the trappings of the fake democracy we've grown accustomed to.

but the percentage of looters seems to be growing, and as awareness of peak oil grows, the percentage will continue to grow… it will take lots of bucks to set up your enclave, fend off the starving masses, and grow and/or import your food.

there's probably a large percentage of "old line americans" who are corporate fascists, and will be content with a military government so long as the profits continue to roll in… assuming the govt can hold together well enough to protect them.

in other words, it will be american business as usual, except that we wont be able to afford the trappings of fake democracy we've grown accustomed to.

but the percentage of looters seems to be growing, and as awareness of peak oil grows, the percentage will continue to grow… it will take lots of bucks to set up your enclave, fend off the starving masses, and grow and/or import your food.

UtopiaNow

I reckon the trail always leads back to Banking (read The privately owned few control of FED/IMF/World banks cartel & the Oil boyz)…..Check out The Bilderberg Group… Justin is absolutely brilliant but he needs to understand 99% of it is just about stealing. You can't steal off "the people" because 99.9% are too smart but, if you do lucrative "deals" for dodgy war loans & contracts stuff, and,… subsidies, and monopolies &, some military interventions induced "foreign asset "purchases"" well then,….BINGO, the public pays…..and because if we don't pay our taxes they trash us LEGALLY we and the nation we are "carpet bombing to help" BOTH get raped…our children…their children get raped… .. It's all so simple really but,… very silly as, despite the Economics 101 lies, there are plenty of resources & clean energy solutions. How much do we waste? We can use lights with 1% of power….transport could be cut to perhaps 10% of power/fuel….easily cut to 50% of fuel…PLUS you don't need much fuel for a plane or sub with a 50 megaton nuke do you? …Also, population explosion sure doesn't help …and it also is a real big elephant in the room being ignored.

UtopiaNow

I reckon the trail always leads back to Banking (read The privately owned few control of FED/IMF/World banks cartel & the Oil boyz)…..Check out The Bilderberg Group… Justin is absolutely brilliant but he needs to understand 99% of it is just about stealing. You can't steal off "the people" because 99.9% are too smart but, if you do lucrative GOVERNMENT "deals" for dodgy war loans & contracts stuff, and,… subsidies, and monopolies &, some military interventions induced "foreign asset "purchases"" well then,….BINGO, the public pays…..and because if we don't pay our taxes they trash us LEGALLY we and the nation we are "carpet bombing to help" BOTH get raped…our children…their children get raped… .. It's all so simple really but,… very silly as, despite the Economics 101 lies, there are plenty of resources & clean energy solutions. How much do we waste? We can use lights with 1% of power….transport could be cut to perhaps 10% of power/fuel….easily cut to 50% of fuel…PLUS you don't need much fuel for a plane or sub with a 50 megaton nuke do you? …Also, po

Eric Siverson

This seems like a good place for me to make a comment , becuase most evreybody seems to be plenty reasonable . God bless all of you , and lets pray a little more , and be very thankfull what god has given us .

Pardon me, Mr. Raimondo, but I have a message for the establishment's Afghan hit man, McChrystal: 80,000 more troops for Afghanistan?! America is broke, you moron. Look at the trillions of dollars in deficit spending that is being used to finance all of the establishment's damned endless wars of imperialism and their worldwide network of over 800 military bases. You and the rest of of political-military-industrial complex are bankrupting America; fiscally, morally and spiritually. But I thank God that there was at least one military officer who once had the guts to stand up tall and tell the American people the truth and admit that "War is a Racket." His name was Maj. General Smedley Butler – USMC. He won the Congressional Medal of Honor, twice! He was the genuine article. He was a real man, a real hero and a real American patriot who loved the Constitution. But as for you McChrystal? Why you're nothing more than the establishment's ass-kissing, bivouacked, ribbon-bedecked, cowardly little pussy that orders real men to their deaths for nothing more than blood-soaked corporate profits.

George S. Boutwell, founder of the Anti-Imperialist League around the year 1900: “Every ambitious would-be empire clarions it abroad that she is conquering the world to bring it peace, security and freedom, and is sacrificing her sons only for the most noble and humanitarian purposes. That is a lie, and it is an ancient lie, yet generations still rise and believe it!” Damn the American Ruling Establishment for the economic and moral ruin they have brought down upon the heads of the American people. We've all been "Goldman-sacked" by the political-military-banking-corporate ruling elite. How utterly evil they all are.